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School District Receives Recommendation For National Accreditation

October 8, 2008

Darlington County School District Receives Praise and Recommendations from National Accreditation Team

After over a year of preparation and several days of on-site visits and interviews, Darlington County School District received praise and recommendations for accreditation from the national AdvancED Accreditation Team. Darlington County School District is the first in

the Pee Dee and among the first in South Carolina to earn this prestigious accreditation.

For the past year, the staff, teachers, students, parents and community members have been working together toward the national accreditation. This week, the school district hosted an AdvancED Quality Assurance Review Team that visited the district and a cross-section of its schools to evaluate the district$B!G(Bs adherence to the AdvancED accreditation standards and to make a recommendation for national accreditation.  

Comprised of nine trained professionals from across the state and nation, the team reviewed district documents and performance data; interviewed over 350 district, school, and community stakeholders; conducted site visits to 8 schools; observed over 55 classrooms; and

studied district and school practices. 

The team commended the district for strong visionary leadership at all levels, including a supportive school board; a collaborative spirit between school community and extended community; a caring, capable, and highly qualified staff; a priority on research-based professional growth and professional develop; and a clear academic focus.

The team further commended the district for support of the whole child and family with district and community resources; our new PARTNERS program; profound communication efforts; leadership opportunities at every level; and instructional technologies that support teaching and learning.

During their report, the team acknowledged the district faces challenges, including poverty, aging facilities, diversity issues, economic climate, recruitment and retention of staff, parental

involvement and academic achievement.

In addition, the team recommended that the district

$B!|(B       Reinvent the education foundation in order to support major

initiatives compromised by funding cuts

$B!|(B       Create a comparability group (like districts) to address No

Child Left Behind gaps, parental support, teacher retention, and unique

funding sources

$B!|(B       Develop and implement regularly scheduled cross-disciplinary planning/training sessions across grade and school levels.

The district will be developing plans to respond to and address these recommendations.  In two years, the district must report to AdvancED its progress in addressing the team$B!G(Bs recommendations.

Overall, the team found that Darlington County School District met the requirements for AdvancED accreditation.  The team$B!G(Bs recommendation will be reviewed and acted upon by the national AdvancED Accreditation Commission. 

$B!H(BThis has been an invaluable experience for us as a district and as a community,$B!I(B said Dr. Rainey H. Knight, district superintendent. $B!H(BNot only does it validate all the things we are currently doing for our students, but it also gave us an opportunity to really identify and examine our strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, this will allow us to better serve our students and our community.$B!I(B $B!H(BHundreds of employees, parents, students, and community members worked together to earn this accreditation. I would like to thank everyone for their time, efforts, and input during our school meetings, strategic planning process, interviews, and more. Thank you,$B!I(B said Knight.

District accreditation applies a systems approach to improvement.  It examines how all elements of the school system work in concert for the benefit of student learning. It looks for example of systemic, systematic, and sustainable improvement. District accreditation provides

several benefits:

$B!|(B       Builds the capacity of the system and its schools to increase

and sustain student learning

$B!|(B       Stimulates and supports improvement and effectiveness throughout

the system

$B!|(B       Ensures all people, processes, departments and operations of the

system work in concert

$B!|(B       Strengthens efforts to meet accountability requirements

$B!|(B       Encourages growth beyond compliance to achieve excellence

$B!|(B       Promotes continuous, not episodic, improvement

AdvancED is the parent organization for the North Central AssociationCommission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), and the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE).  NCA CASI and SACS CASI are accreditation divisions of AdvancED.  Dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwide, AdvancED provides accreditation, research, and professional services to 23,000 public and private schools and 4,500 school districts in 30 states and 66 countries. Parents and interested community members can

learn more about the District Accreditation Process at www.advanc-ed.org.